Why it works: Rye and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,320 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Sift the rye flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda together three times into a bowl.
In a separate bowl, mix the lard and molasses and warm slightly.
Add the sour milk to the lard and molasses mixture.
Mix and steam
Combine the wet and dry ingredients and work the mixture for three minutes.
Place the batter in a greased mold and steam for three hours.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,320 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Rye + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together918 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Rye + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in sour milk to release gas that lifts the batter.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds a tangy flavor.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and a dark colour to the bread.
- Rye flour
- Gives an earthy flavor, with less gluten structure than wheat flour.
- Cornmeal
- Adds a grainy texture and helps give the bread its crumb.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.
The step that matters
Place the batter in a greased mold and steam for three hours. Steaming cooks the batter gently and keeps it moist, while the greased mold helps the bread release cleanly once it is set.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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